Η Βιβλιοθήκη Φραγκίσκος είναι μια μεσογειακή βιβλιοθήκη στο μονοπάτι του Ομήρου, Λιμουράτα, Ιθάκη. Έχουμε βιβλία σε πολλά είδη και γλώσσες, για όλες τις ηλικίες. Τρίτη-Κυρ. 4-8 μ.μ. Καλώς να ‘ρθείτε. Φέρτε μια λιχουδιά για τον Ρόκκου, ο κουφός σκύλος, ή για τον Δον Πάμπλο, ο γάτος στο χρώμα του πιάνου.
Biblioteca Francesco is a Mediterranean library on Homer’s path, Limourata, Itháki. We have books in many genres & languages, for all ages. Tue-Sun 4-8 pm. Pilgrims and readers welcome. Bring a treat for Rokku, our deaf-mute dog, or for Don Pablo the piano-coloured cat.
Limourata is a hamlet of only two houses, situated on a path away from the road. To reach us, park in Exogí, and follow the blue Ithaca Trail that leads down towards Kolierí and the ruins of Homer’s School. After the steps that pass the Taxiárchis ruins and shrine, turn left, pass the carob tree, and the first building you find will be Bibliothíki Frangískos. Rokku is soft and loves everyone, but bring a dog treat if you can, so he knows you’re a friend looking for a book. Most of all, come slowly, and enjoy the three-minute walk.
Photos of the path below (slide manually to follow Rokku). Once you leave the road and reach the ancient steps, you can’t really get lost.
The three librarians
Don Pablo, cat and cat-aloguing expert. A covid baby, born in Madrid, raised in Bonnevoie (Luxembourg) and on the road in France and Italy. A resident of Exogí from September 2020, until rejoining Twanny in Limourata in early 2025. His favourite languages are Italian and Salentino, and he is a huge fan of Lucio Battisti and Maltese band Brodu.
Rokku, two years old, deaf and mute. Part Greek Shepherd, part Labrador. Formerly a stray in a mountain village below Pythagoras’ Cave, Samos. Sensing Twanny’s hearing condition, Rokku decided to adopt him in November 2024. They’ve been together pretty much 24h a day ever since. Rokku takes care of hospitality duties, chills with readers on the avlí (front yard), and approves newly arrived comics. His favourite, of course, is Rantanplan.
Twanny is the Maltese diminutive for Antoine. Χάρηκα. Pleased to meet you.
I’m not fluent in elliniká yet, but this website will eventually be bilingual.
More about my writing, translations and published books at antoinecassar.net.
Bibliothíki Frangískos is an NGO set up between Malta and Itháki, in order to encourage reading and music as therapy, and to raise awareness on societal noise, hearing conditions, and their effects on mental health.
Who is Francesco / Frangískos?
Francesco is Nannu Frank, my maternal grandfather, who also lived with hyperacusis. Brought up in Malta and Montpellier, he was a bibliophile, translator, and painter. When I lived with him age 9-11, he was my best friend, reading to me in French by the garden door, to soothe his ears and mine.
Due to family wars, I didn’t see Nannu again until my mid-20s – just as total deafness and dementia were setting in. Conversation was difficult, it was too late to become friends again. Until covid lockdown, five years after his body expired. Since the summer of 2020, I feel Nannu Frank’s presence almost every day, and try to lead the creative life that he could not.
Incidentally, or perhaps not, Frangískos is also the name of the earliest person (16th c.) to be mentioned in extant notarial documents about Exogí, the village above Limourata. More about that another time.
